At the beginning of the meeting, Rashid Temrezov at the President’s request spoke about the measures to support citizens and small and medium-sized businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, additional social support measures to families with children, as well as efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus. He noted the consolidation of all government agencies, the Russian Government, relevant ministries and the regional bodies of power, as well as the support from the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the district. Last June, at the request of the Prosecutor-General, a comprehensive inspection of medical facilities took place in the republic. Handling certain issues identified during the inspection made it possible to treat patients more efficiently.
As for healthcare, an up-to-date oncology centre, a republican children’s hospital, a new building of the prenatal centre and many rural health posts have been built in the republic over the past several years. The Head of the republic asked the President to instruct the Healthcare Ministry and the Government to include Karachayevo-Circassia in the list of regions where an infectious disease hospital is to be built. Rashid Temrezov also said that average life expectancy in the republic is 76.2 years, ranking it sixth in Russia. Plans call for reaching the 80+ threshold by 2023.
The economy and the socio-political situation were also discussed, including such problems as low incomes and growing unemployment, especially during the first six months of this year. According to Mr Temrezov, implementing a large investment package and a programme on the republic’s sustainable development is key to decreasing tensions about unemployment. About 20 projects worth 45 billion rubles in total have been prepared. Many are already underway, and many are nearing completion. Damate, the largest turkey producer, will open a sheep breeding branch in May 2021. It will be a large advanced enterprise that will create over 500 jobs.
Construction of small hydropower plants together with RusHydro continues. Fruit growing is actively developing with about 1,000 hectares of orchards restored in the republic in recent years.
In industry, the modernisation of the plant manufacturing plasterboard and dry mixes continues. The republic is among Russia’s leading producers of bottled drinking water with 800 million litres per year, and today a number of enterprises are being upgraded and are increasing their capacities. UGMK is building a mining and processing plant that meets all environmental safety standards; this is among the plant’s most important and promising projects.
Tourism is developing successfully, in particular, at the Arkhyz all-season resort. The tourist flow to Karachayevo-Circassia has grown by 20 percent, up to 1.2 million. Plans for further development have been outlined together with the Russian Government and the Ministry of Economic Development.
Over the past several years, the republic has built a large number of socially important facilities such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals, sports complexes and culture centres, which are especially important because 60 percent of the population live in rural areas.
Vladimir Putin drew Rashid Temrezov’s attention to addressing problems related to the high level of unemployment and a drop in the construction sector. He added that support measures will be taken regarding all requests of the republic and wished success in solving tasks that Mr Temrezov had outlined in the conversation.
Rashid Temrezov invited Vladimir Putin to visit Karachayevo-Circassia, which will mark its 100th anniversary in 2022, in line with the President’s executive order. Vladimir Putin accepted the invitation and noted that he enjoyed his visits to Karachayevo-Circassia and was very interested in following its development.